Tag: death of innovation silicon valley

This is a Research Essay on the given topic I had done during the first semester of my Masters in Communication and Media Studies. The conclusions are based on my findings and my perceptions of how the industry in Silicon Valley evolved. I’ll be glad to hear any supporting or alternate views.

It’s a long read. Thanks for your patience.

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Silicon Valley has long been known as the innovation and technology capital of the modern world. Housing some of the top tech companies, it has seen tremendous economic and creative growth since the 1970s. Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies (2017) shows that of the top 10 patent generating cities in the US, 6 are based in the Silicon Valley. 39 of the companies listed in the Forbes 1000 list are again based out of this Southern Bay area of San Francisco (Forbes 2017).

As the manufacturing economy of Detroit fell in the 1960s, the innovation based economy of Silicon Valley grew. This shifted the complete focus of the US Government towards the region. Supported by the greatest minds of Stanford University, located near to the San Francisco Bay area, the support extended to the technical communities and graduates in the area grew by leaps and bounds. The all-round support from the government, academia and the industry played a major role in the growth of Silicon Valley as the pioneering face of technology. But this tech-fueled prosperity has seen a steep decline since the 1990s, owing to a multitude of reasons – technological, financial, economical and also in terms of the support system. In this essay, we will be discussing about the rise, fall and the reasons behind how the innovation culture of Silicon Valley has died since the late 1980s.Continue reading